Taste and Smell Quiz

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Smell and taste problems can have a big impact on our lives. Because these senses contribute substantially to our enjoyment of life, our desire to eat, and be social, smell and taste disorders can be serious.

1. People are able to distinguish four main types of tastes: sour, sweet, salty, and bitter.

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The taste cells are clustered in the taste buds of the mouth and throat. Many of the small bumps that can be seen on the tongue contain taste buds.

A. TrueB. False

2. You are able to recognize a taste through your sense of smell.

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If you hold your nose while eating chocolate, for example, you will have trouble identifying the chocolate flavor, even though you can distinguish the food's sweetness or bitterness. That's because the familiar flavor of chocolate is sensed largely by odor. So is the well-known flavor of coffee.

A. TrueB. False

3. Taste disorders are more common than smell disorders.

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Smell disorders are more common. A loss of smell is the most common problem, but other problems include misreading or distorting an odor. Smell and taste disorders rarely occur together.

A. TrueB. False

4. All taste and smell disorders are caused by injury or illness.

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Although many other people do develop smell and taste problems after an injury or illness, some people are born with them. Upper respiratory infections are blamed for some chemosensory losses, and injury to the head can also cause smell or taste problems.

A. TrueB. False

5. Hormones can affect your taste and smell.

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Other causes of taste and smell disorders include polyps in the nasal cavities, sinus infections, and dental problems. Loss of smell and taste also can be caused by exposure to certain chemicals such as insecticides and by some medicines. Radiation therapy for cancers of the head and neck also can cause chemosensory disturbances.

A. TrueB. False

6. Most doctors diagnose smell disorders by using a scratch and sniff test.

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The person taking the test scratches pieces of paper treated to release different odors, sniffs them, and tries to identify each odor from a list of possibilities.

A. TrueB. False

7. Losing your sense of smell or taste can be annoying, but it doesn't pose any risks.

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A person with faulty smell or taste is deprived of an early warning system that most of us take for granted. Smell and taste alert us to fires, poisonous fumes, leaking gas, and spoiled food and beverages. Smell and taste losses can also lead to depression.

A. TrueB. False

8. Losing your sense of smell or taste can be an early warning sign of more serious illness.

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Chemosensory problems may indicate illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, malnutrition, and some degenerative diseases of the nervous system such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Korsakoff's psychosis.